SOME years back, when my friends and I were starting families, talk would inevitably go to family finances. How much is your monthly electricity bill? How much do you spend on groceries every month? Where can you buy the best bargains? How are you saving up for your children’s tuition? These were just some of the questions we would ask each other, and because we were friends, we had no qualms about basically revealing how much we were spending on everything.
Those talks helped because we would each give tips on how to save precious pesos and where to put our money so it would grow.
For instance, one friend said instead of buying a preneed education plan (premiums were high since her children were already in grade school), she would just put money monthly equal to a preneed plan premium payment in a high-yielding time deposit. It’s basically a do-it-yourself way of saving up for tuition.
Another friend said my electricity bill was high, and when we compared our usage, we realized the electric stove and airpot (which was turned on the whole day) were the culprits.
Still another friend said that while you can buy school uniforms and school supplies at low prices in Divisoria, you’d be better off buying at a department store in the mall nearby to save on time, parking, and gas or taxi fare.
Nowadays people have more access to personal finance information from experts via the Internet, newspapers, magazines, books, and seminars, which is good because we all need helpful tips on how to manage our finances, especially since these impact our families. Read money blogs, not just this one, and pick advice that would best suit your needs. Financial literacy is one of those things that would benefit us until we grow old. (Karen Galarpe)
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Win a free seat to the Family Finance 101 seminar!
Want to learn how to secure your family’s financial future? Money Sense magazine is presenting its latest Money Sense Live seminar on July 11, and this time it will be on Family Finance 101, with a panel of experts including Money Smarts pioneer blogger and Money Sense columnist Salve Duplito.
To register for the seminar and find out payment details, go to http://iluvlearning.com.
To win a free seat, be one of the first five people to post their own family finance tip here AND signify their intention to attend the seminar. In the comment section below, just say: “I want to win! Here’s my family finance tip …” The seminar organizer will then contact you as to how to go about claiming your free ticket.
The Family Finance 101 seminar will be held on Saturday, July 11, 2009, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the AIM Conference Center in Makati City.
July 8th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Maraming magandang tips sa thread na ito.. but i think ang best combination is…
1. Use excel sheet with Graphs
2. Pay yourself first
3. DONT BUY Cash-value Insurance, BUT TERM
4. Replaced old applicances with new energy efficient one
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:22 am
By every first amount I mean every first of the month. Sorry
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:21 am
I want to win. Here’s my family finance tip. I am a single parent whose child support has yet to be finalized in court. Every first amount I already alot a fixed bulk amount for the family’s monthly expenses. I also list down each and every purchase and automatically deduct it from this bulk amount. Every 15th i also deduct a certain portion from this for savings so I have to do with what is left for our living expenses.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Thanks for sharing your family finance tips! We can learn so much from each other.
Maia, Rencie, Maggie, Money Magnets and Frosh — you were the first 5 to post. Please expect an e-mail informing you of your free seat at the Family Finance Seminar. Thanks!
July 1st, 2009 at 12:20 pm
First of all we practice tithing and “pay yourself first” or saving. Then we make sure all needs are covered by our monthly income. Anything left over, (yes, it sometimes happen) are added to savings instead of spending on a “want”. All “wants” are to be sourced from investment income, never from monthly income. This limits spur of the moment purchases and focuses us on making tong-term planning for major “wants”.